The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has put off its scheduled meeting of the Coach Selection Committee from November 3 to a future unspecified date.

“Sunil (Gavaskar) is not available on that day and we had to postpone the meeting until further notice,” said BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah here on Wednesday.

However, another BCCI source revealed that the absence of a suitable candidate from the list of persons who have approached the Board as the prospective national coach was the main reason for the postponement of the meeting.

“Where’s the candidate even if Sunil was available?” the source wondered, and said if a coach is not found before the start of the three-Test series against Pakistan, then cricket manager Lalchand Rajput was likely to continue in that capacity.

“We may continue with Rajput as cricket manager,” said the source. Rajput has been appointed as the manager till the end of the five-match one-day series against Pakistan starting on November 5 in Guwahati.

Meanwhile, the meeting of the National Cricket Academy will be held as scheduled here on November 3, according to Shah.

“Dav Whatmore has given us a long list (of proposals) and these would be discussed,” said Shah.

Australia Watmore,has taken over as NCA’s director of cricket operations.

Ravi Shastri, the new chairman of the Bangalore-based NCA, will also be attending the meeting, Shah said.

SA Test venues
Meanwhile Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad, not necessarily in that order, are scheduled to host the three Test matches during South Africa’s tour of India next year.

“The dates and venues of the matches are yet to be fixed (by the Tours Programmes and Fixtures Committee) but as per the Board’s rotation, these centres are expected to get the matches,” Shah said.

South Africa’s visit to India to play a Test rubber against the hosts is scheduled for March-April, 2008.

“The negotiations for the visit are on,” said Shah, who met the members of the South African Board when he visited Dubai this week.

The series is expected to commence soon after the Indian team’s visit from Australia in early March and will end in mid-April.